Telescope Reviews: A Quickie (Session) of Herschel Objects

I often find fall a wonderful time for observing, but during the week I cannot get to a dark site so home has to be it (until I have a break from school which will happen come mid October). So, I put up my light shields forming a barrier and then go to work for a quick session. Here is a recap of last night, Sept. 22, 2009:

NGC 6834 Open Cluster
XT10
21 mm Stratus and 13mm Stratus at 57x and 92x
Seeing 6/10
7.8 Mag

Rather easy to find from Alberio to 15 Vulpeculae and then followed a chain of stars to in between the 3rd and 4th star and went north.

Small cluster with 5 stars/suns running east to west. Very small cluster that is poor and at 57x I did detect a slight glow to the cluster. 92x was a much improved view showing more stars and the hint of others that are wanting to peep and come out.

NGC 6885/6882 Open Cluster in Vulpecula
XT10
21mm Stratus @57x
8.1 Mag
Seeing 6/10

Easy to get to. From NGC 6834 go back to 15 Vulpeculae and then up to 18, 19 and 20 Vulpeculae that form a triangle. The cluster is around 20 Vulpeculae and is rather dispersed out. There is a double underneath 20 Vulpeculae and the left star seemed to shine a reddish orange to me tonight. This is a fun cluster to observe and I sketched this one. I found the star placements to be interesting and enjoyed the time with this OC. O'Meara calls for stars ranging from the 6th mag. to the 13th mag in the cluster. It is thought that Herschel saw this cluster twice but didn't realize it and thus made two observations.

NGC 6940 Open Cluster in Vulpecula
Mag 6.1
XT10
21mm Stratus
Seeing 6/10

Another easy to find OC. From NGC 6885 I simply went up and over to 41 Cygni. From there I went over two stars, down past two asterisms of triangles and then went down and to the right in 21mm Stratus and there she was. This is a very rich and large open cluster that was wonderful to view. If you haven't seen it for awhile, take the time in your next session to view this. I did a rough sketch and when I am back at a dark site this weekend I intend to recapture this. A wonderful object in the Herschel list. O'Meara states this OC has over 170 members.

NGC 6934 Globular Cluster in Delpinus.
Mag. 8.9
XT10
21mm and 13mm Stratus at 57x and 92x

I used the Telrad to Epsilon Delphi (the tail of the Dolphin) and hopped to Kappa Delphi and then worked my way south to two stars pointing NE. Next to the right on and up is the globular.

The globular sits next to a reverse L shape asterism. At 57x I caught a glimpse of a core surrounded by a halo. 92x brought in more of the core, though it was still small but no individual stars could be resolved. The globular appeared at 57x and 92x to be irregular with the western edge being the one that had both a brighter light to it and the appearance of irregularity. The irregularity could be a hint of tendril but I could not confirm or deny that. Easy object to pick up.

That was all I had time for. I am finding that O'Meara's guide is pretty good. I usually use my Sky Atlas 2000 and get to the object on my own. I do find for some of the fainter objects his detail maps are a help. So far I'm enjoying the Herschel list though I prefer to do them at a darker site and I am left in awe that this man and his sister chased some of these objects down! Incredible feat at the time in my opinion.

Clear Skies to each of you

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Jay in Utah
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Location: Lat: 40.514N Long: -112.032W

Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth.
— Ptolemy, c.150 AD

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